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We (4 of us) met in 2005 Master Gardener class and continue volunteer working in our community using our garden knowledge and also learning at the same time. Two of us are experienced bakers and the other two never bake bread before. We start our bread baking journey last week, the first bread we did was the no-knead bread, it come out perfect. These two new bakers are really interest to continue their journey of bread making. Yesterday, we used three different kinds of method to bake bread and see the result of the breads. From left to right, the high rise bread is used by bread machine and set on dough setting. Second one by mixer (Kitchen Aid), and the last two are by kneading and French fold. The students did the kneading and folding of the dough, they learn to feel the texture of the dough, check the dough with window panel, and score the dough before baking, baking the bread and cooling. The rolls above we learn to braid and row into shapes. We had a wonderful time and a great baking day.

up to the thermal layer on a new earth oven, and i hope to be baking bread by the end of july.

I built the base out of reclaimed concrete (a former backyard patio) and scavenged concrete blocks. with the sand, firebrick and tools i'm in this about $120 bucks. and, of course, about 2 grand in labor - but hey, that doesn't count, right?

this took about 3 months from the initial conception to this point, with about 5 good days of work. most of the time was spent collecting the materials.

send me good vibes that this thing doesn't collapse or explode or otherwise crush my now fragile hope.

the girl and the concrete:

the core:

half finished:

the finished base:

creatively focused image of the insulation layer, wine bottles and a mud/perlite mixture:

the mud subfloor. a layer of sand goes over this, and then the firebrick hearth:

my dad and the firebrick hearth:

the first thermal layer and the brick arch:

and a final close-up of my rather rough first layer:

if the thing survives the removal of the sand, i'll post more pictures. wish me luck!

(Ok, I ended up fermenting about 2 hours at room temp, 20 hours chilled, 18 hours at room temp, and another 5 hours in fridge. The 18 hours at room temp was definately too much, as when I retrieved the poolish for mixing after the final period in the fridge, it had receded about an inch from its high point. Of course, this was unintentional as I meant to put it back in the fridge earlier.

Calculate water temp (desired dough temp 76F)

76 x 4 = 304 / Room - flour - poolish - mixer (18F?) = water

(I never did calculate for temp, but the final dough came out to be about 80F, which was fine)

Mix: Do not add yeast or salt/Mix to incorporate ingredients(final flour and water + poolish)

(reserve few grams of water and soak yeast)

Autolyse 20 - 30 minutes

Mix: Add salt and yeast/mix 2nd speed (Bosch compact)

Mix 3-4 minutes(till supple and moderately loose... hmmm)

Bulk Fermentation - 70 minutes (one fold after 25)

I gave it another fold after the 70 minutes and placed the dough good side up in in about a 6 quart aluminum pot with lid (a bit too large perhaps)

I let it rise for 90 minutes in the pot and then used a scissors to score it.

I then baked it, covered in the pot, for 35 minutes at 460F. I started in a cold oven, no preheating.

After 35 minutes, I removed the cover, and continued to bake another 15 minutes at 460.

(90 minutes was too long for final proof. I got very little oven spring and cuts did not open well.)

At the end of the baking, I took bread temp and measured at 215F. I will not bake as long next time.

This recipe is a modified version of Floyd's !0 Minute Banana Bread recipe shown at the lower left on the home page. It incorporates most of the suggestions Foolish Poolish made just recently and a change or two of my own. I just happened to have some over-ripe bananas and some left-over starter this morning, so I though , "Why not?" It's delicious and so tender it almost slices itself!

Sourdough Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 350° F

In a food processor, combine and pulse until broken up:

1/2 stick of room temperature butter (4 ounces/60 gr.)

2 eggs

2 -3 fully ripe bananas, broken into chunks

In a large mixing bowl combine and stir:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (214 gr.) (could be partly whole wheat, but not more than 1/2 cup)

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (100 to 150 gr.)

3/4 teas. salt (4.5 gr.)

3/4 teas. baking soda (3.5 gr.)

1/4 teas. baking powder (3.5 gr.)

1/2 teas. cinnamon (1 gr.)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry.

Also add up to a cup of sourdough starter. I used a scant cup of batter-consistancy starter, and it was just right. Thw weight here will vary -- some starters are heavier than others. It would be ok to use a liquid measure of 8 oz., more or less, here.

Bake at 350° F on a middle rack. It should take 30 or so minutes if in two pans and about 40 in just one. Test by poking a toothpick into the center of the loaf; if it comes out clean, the bread is done.

Let sit in pan(s) for 5 minutes or so, then turn out onto a wire rack.

This is going to be my favorite use of left-over sourdough, I can tell that!

Sorry, no photos; I put it in two 8 1/2"X4 1/2" pans and the loaves are way too flat to be proud of, but they taste great.

Thanks to Foolish Poolish for getting me started on this modification and to Floyd for providing the basic recipe.

I'm always excited when my coffee tastes as good as it smells. The same applies to bread. For some reason the aroma and flavor of things don't always line up to be what I expect. Recently I tried Mark Sinclair's Multi Grain Bread from the recipe he has posted on his "The Back Home Bakery" website. I have tried a few other combinations of grains and methods that were pretty good but this was on the next level for me. It has a great heady aroma and it tastes wonderful. You can see the dough is not to dense and makes a great sandwich or toast. The toaster brings out the rustic nature of the grains and it tastes as good as it smells!

Mark has some first rate instructional videos on his site also that I have found very helpful for shaping and kneading. I appreciate that he is sharing his talent with us home bakers.

To reach the recipe you can either scroll down to the 6th recipe in or use search on the KA blog Website.

They're a good sturdy bun; none of that fluff that falls apart in your hand. The recipe tells how to make the burger buns; I made a double batch and dived the second half into 8 hot dog buns, using my imagination as to how to shape them.

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